Do people put more value on electricity produced using waste-to-hydrogen? Findings from South Korea

South Korea is pushing for the waste-to-hydrogen (W2H) project to reduce greenhouse gases and utilize plastic and vinyl waste (PVW) while reducing environmental pollution from PVW. This research seeks to estimate additional willingness to pay (WTP) for electricity produced using W2H over that produced using traditional power sources, such as coal and nuclear. For the purpose of the estimation, a contingent valuation survey of 1000 people was performed employing the closed-ended one-and-one-half-bound question during November 2020. A spike model is utilized to reflect zero WTP values that a number of interviewees reported in the survey. Several factors affecting the additional WTP were also analyzed to derive implications. The average WTP was computed as KRW 27.7 (USD 0.025) per kWh with statistical significance, which reaches 26.4% of the electricity price. One more point to note is that 54.3% of the respondents stated a zero WTP as they thought that W2H is of no value to them or were worried that the W2H project could increase electricity bills.     

In-situ methane enrichment of biogas from anaerobic digestion of palm oil mill effluent by addition of zero valent iron (ZVI)

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a wastewater effluent that is generated from palm oil milling. Treatment of POME, especially using biological treatment methods, is a challenge as it contains high amounts of organic and sulfur compounds, and it is highly acidic. In this research, the effects of zero-valent iron (ZVI) on the enhancement of methane production from POME via anaerobic digestion were investigated. Furthermore, to identify the reactor operation modes that were suitable for the addition of ZVI, anaerobic digestion of POME was tested in three reaction configurations: batch reactor, fed-batch reactor, and continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR). In the batch mode, where acidic POME was fed with 16 g/L of ZVI dose just once, methane production increased by 74%. However, as the oxidation of ZVI under anaerobic conditions led to the production of hydroxyl ions, the pH of the medium continuously increased from approximately 7 to 9, which is not suitable for methanogenesis. In the fed-batch mode that involved intermittent feeding of acidic POME, the pH of the culture media was maintained at 6.8. This is because the extra hydroxyl ions generated from the oxidation reaction of ZVI tended to neutralize the acids in the feeding substrate. In addition, ZVI promoted the production of methane from POME and increased the average methane content in biogas from 62% to 76%. In the CSTR mode, which involved continuous feeding of acidic POME, ZVI increased methane production by 86% (from 1.79 to 3.32 L/day), methane content in biogas from 60 to 75%, and total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) removal efficiency from 78 to 89 to 88–95%. Thus, the addition of ZVI can be a potential strategy for in-situ methane enrichment of biogas by anaerobic digestion of POME. This is because ZVI acts as a buffer for acid generation and provides extra electrons, ferrous ions, and ferric ions, which promote key microbial activities in the anaerobic digestion process.     

Numerical study of entropy generation in Darcy-Forchheimer (D-F) Bödewadt flow of CNTs

Three-dimensional Bödewadt flow (fluid rotates at a large enough distance from the stationary plate) of carbon nanomaterial is examined. Single walled and multi walled CNTs are dissolved in water and gasoline oil baseliquids. Darcy-Forchheimer porous medium is considered. Stationary disk is further stretched linearly in radial direction. Heat transfer effect is examined in presence of radiation and convection. Effect of viscous dissipation is accounted. Entropy generation rate is studied. By using adequate transformation (von Kármán relations), the flow field equations (PDEs) are transmitted into ODEs. Solutions to these ODEs are constructed via implementation of shooting method (bvp4c). In addition to Entropy generation rate, Bejan number, heat transfer rate (Nusselt number), skin friction and temperature of fluid are examined through involved physical parameters. Axial component of velocity intensifies with increment in nanoparticles volume fraction and ratio of stretching rate to angular velocity parameter while it decays with higher porosity parameter. Higher nanoparticles volume fraction and porosity parameter lead to decay in radial as well as tangential component of velocity. However it enhances with higher ratio of stretching rate to angular velocity parameter. Temperature of fluid directly varies with higher ratio of stretching rate to angular velocity parameter, radiation parameter, Eckert number, Biot number and nanoparticles volume fraction. Rate of Entropy generation is reduced with higher estimations of porosity parameter, nanoparticles volume fraction and radiation parameter. Skin friction coefficient decays with higher porosity parameter and ratio of stretching rate to angular velocity parameter. Intensification in porosity parameter, nanoparticles volume fraction and Biot number leads to higher Nusselt number. Prominent impact is shown by multiple-walled CNTs with gasoline oil basefluid than single-walled CNTs with water basefluid.     

Amine-containing olefin copolymer with CO2-switchable oil absorption and desorption

Global decrease in crude oil resources and frequent crude oil leaks cause the energy crisis and ecological pollution. The absorption and release of leaked crude oil through absorption materials are a necessary process for environmental protection and recycling. In this article, a CO₂-responsive olefin copolymer was obtained by copolymerization of styrene and an amine-containing olefin monomer. The structure of resultant copolymer was characterized by FTIR; thermal properties and CO₂-responsive morphology changes were determined by DSC/TGA and SEM, respectively. Copolymers had certain absorption capacity for toluene with absorption rate up to 180.0%. The absorbed toluene could be released upon CO₂ stimulation with desorption rate up to 84.6%. The CO₂-responsive copolymer could be regenerated through a simple heating process and showed stable absorption–desorption performance even after being recycled for 4 times. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47439.     

Characterization of the Chemical Composition of Chinese Moringa oleifera Seed Oil

This work focused on physicochemical property assaying, fatty acid composition, triacylglycerol (TAG) profiles, and unsaponifiable matter composition of the Chinese Moringa oleifera seed oil. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in approximate nutritional components between M. oleifera seeds from China and India, while variations in the mineral element contents are significant. Both the Soxhlet extraction method and the aqueous enzymatic extraction method were adopted to extract oil from Chinese M. oleifera seeds. Oil yield obtained using the Soxhlet extraction method was higher than that obtained using the aqueous enzymatic extraction method. While both the iodine value and unsaponifiable matter content of the aqueous enzymatic extracted oil were a little higher than that of the Soxhlet extracted oil. Both oils possess a very low acid value and peroxide value, suggesting their good quality as edible oil. Fatty acid composition results indicated that this oil was especially high in oleic acid. Characterization of the TAG composition was achieved by a two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupling of nonaqueous reverse-phase and silver ion HPLC with the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry method. A total of 22 TAG including 16 regioisomers were determined. Composition results of unsaponifiable matters revealed that this oil possesses a number of phytosterols, in which β-sitosterol and stigmasterol are most predominant.     

Crude Oil Production

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